Faridabad, pronunciation(help·info) (Hindi: फरीदाबाद) is a city and a municipal corporation in Faridabad district in the state of Haryana, India. It is a major industrial city and population centre. The city was founded in 1607 by Shaikh Farid, treasurer of Jahangir, with the object of protecting the highway which passed through the town. He built a fort, a tank and a mosque which are now in ruins. It also had a sarai, a travelers' lodge, that served as a last stop for travelers to Delhi. Later, it became the headquarters of a pargana which was held in jagir by the Ballabgarh ruler. Faridabad became the 12th district of Haryana on 15 August 1979.

Faridabad is about 25 Kilometres south of Delhi at 28° 25' 16" North and 77° 18' 28" East. It is bounded by the National Capital Territory of Delhi on its north, Gurgaon District on the west, and Uttar Pradesh state on its east and south. Delhi-Mathura National Highway-2 (Shershah Suri Marg) passes through the centre of the district. The city has many Railway Stations on the Delhi-Mathura double track broad-gauge line of the North Central Railway.

Faridabad is now the most populated city of Haryana and it generates about 60% of the revenue of the Haryana state. 50% of the income tax collected in Haryana is from Faridabad and Gurgaon. [1]

Faridabad is famous for henna production, while tractors, motorcycles, switch gears, refrigerators, shoes and tyres are other famous industrial products of the city. For the purposes of civil administration, Faridabad District is divided into two sub divisions, viz. - Faridabad and Ballabgarh. Each subdivision is headed by a sub-divisional officer.

Geography

The city is located on the plains of the Yamuna river. It is bordered by the Yamuna to the east and Aravali Hills towards the west and southwest. Today, virtually all of the land has been developed with residential housing as the population of the city swelled during the mid 90s.

Much like the rest of India, the people of Faridabad rely on ground water for their basic needs which is the gift of good monsoon season.

Sports

Facilities for cricket are available in Nahar Singh Stadium which was built in 1981, the ground has a capacity to hold around 25,000 people and stands out as one of the most modern in North India having all facilities. The last ODI played here was between India and England on 31 March 2006. India has played three matches here.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census[3], Faridabad had a population of 1,054,981. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Faridabad has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 60%. In Faridabad, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Old Faridabad, as the northern and oldest part of the city is known, is home to people whose families might have been living in the area for centuries. The ancestry of people is mostly Jats and people from the state of Uttar Pradesh and villages in Haryana.

The western part of the city is called New Industrial Town (abbreviated as NIT). It was built after 1947 for the people who were relocating in India from Pakistan after the Partition of India. Thus most of the people here share their ancestry with modern day Pakistan's regions of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bannu, and Kohat. The rapid growth of the city also brought immigrants to the city from other parts of the country.It is said that city was initially planned only for 300,000 people but the total population of the city is well over 2 million today.

District administration

Economy

Faridabad is a massive economic engine for Haryana. Faridabad and Gurgaon generate over 50% of the income tax to the Haryana government.[4]

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Agriculture

Wheat was grown in Faridabad before but the agriculture has since moved towards the villages of Haryana as Faridabad saw a boom in the population in the early 90s. Almost all of agricultural land has been taken over by the residential housing. However, the 'Anaaj Mandi' (Grain Market) of heritage value still exists in Old Faridabad.

Central government offices

Faridabad has benefited from plans of Union Government to decongest Delhi by shifting a number of Central Government Offices to Faridabad. Many directorates of different union government ministries are headquartered in Faridabad. Prominent among them are Central Water Commission, Department of Plant Quarantine, and Central Insecticide Lab. A number of Union Government Offices for Haryana are based here such as Department of Explosives, Department of Labour, etc.

Military

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has a logistics base in Faridabad. The resident unit is No.56 Air Storage Park as well as the Air Force Guard Dog Training Unit. The IAF Base is commanded by a Group Captain of the Logistics Branch. Formerly, a SA-2SAM Squadron was also based in Faridabad. Although there is no army organisation in the city, there are many retired army officers settled here.

Communications

Faridabad is well connected by the latest means of communications that includes GSM, WLL, Dialup internet connection, DSL internet connection, Leased line internet connection.

Apart from electronics means of communication, the city is well connected through the postal services as well. Government owned Indian Postal Service and privately owned postal services like First Flight, DHL, FedEx, DTDC, Blue Dart etc. can be easily accessed.

Transportation

By rail

Faridabad is on broad gauge of New Delhi- Mumbai Line. New Delhi and Hazrat Nizammudin Railway Station is about 25 km from Faridabad Station. The trains for big cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad are easily accessible from here. Local Trains runs between New Delhi to Faridabad.

There are three railway stations in the city viz. Faridabad (FDB), New Town Faridabad (FDN) and Ballabgarh (BVH). Earlier it was the last station of central railway, but now it has been taken in Northern railway. It is a very high revenue generating source for railways as thousands of people move daily in local trains to and from Delhi for education/professions.

By road

The National Highway-2 (Delhi-Mathura Road) passes through the city, and thus it is well connected to nearby states. Roadways services of Haryana (Haryana Roadways) and neighbouring states like Delhi Transport Corporation, Uttar Pardesh Transport Department, Madhya Pradesh Transport Department, etc. are easily accessible. Delhi Metro Rail is likely to cover the city by 2012 as proposed by the Government of Delhi.

From Wikitravel

Contents

Get in

Faridabad is in the Northern Capital region just 25 km south of
Delhi.

By plane

The nearest airport is the Indira Gandhi International Airport
in New Delhi.

By road

There are various road links from Faridabad to Delhi, Agra, Mathura and other parts of North India. With it
being one of the most developed parts of Haryana, the roads are
smooth and not unlike other Indian cities.

Various bus services ply from New Delhi to Faridabad. Beware of
the ones that drop you off at the border of Faridabad and Delhi
because bus or auto rides from the border to the main city area
tend to be overcrowded.

Taking a taxi is a faster and more comfortable way to reach the
city but it can costlier by many times. Prices may range from Rs.
300-500 for one-way travel from Delhi to Faridabad.

By train

Due to its nearness to Delhi, Faridabad has excellent railway
connectivity with trains from various parts of India. Trains ply
from the Old Faridabad railway station for most of the other
important cities in India. For local commuters, there are EMU train
services to New Delhi, Mathura, Agra, and Ghaziabad which ply at
frequent intervals. Price ranges from Rs. 2 - 5.

Get around

Public transport is mainly restricted to rickshaws and
auto-rickshaws(Highly polluted and dangerous). Initial prices
quoted are hugely exaggerated, so you are up for heavy bargaining.
Enquire from some local about the prevailing prices from one point
of the city to the other.

See

Avoid Bhadkal Jheel: This so called 'lake' is
totally dry and grazing ground for local cattle, and cricket ground
for nearby people. Even locals avoid it. A better option is close
to New Delhi and Haryana border in Faridabad. Instead, visit
Surajkund Lake Tourist Complex with comfortable range of Hotels
from Haryana Tourism, boating, huts etc.

Kranti Sharma, G169. Sector 10, DLF (nearby SRS Mall), ☎919717887102, [2]. We are open to people who are looking for
volunteering opportunities in this area. Are able to arrange
projects such as orphanages with street children, medical projects,
teaching English, and others can be arranged to fit the desire of
volunteers. We have low-cost volunteering in India for
international volunteers.Rs. 500/day
($10). edit

Buy

Faridabad is famous for Henna production. Henna is also called
Mehendi and is a vegetable dye used in Indian weddings to decorate
the hands and legs of the brides.

Eat

Various food outlets are spread throughout the city and you will
find cheap as well as splurge eating joints and restaurants in the
markets of every sector.

Big chains like McDonalds, Subways, Pizza Hut, Sagar Ratna,
Haldirams, Cafe Coffee Day also have their outlets in various malls
across the city.

If you are looking for some exotic varieties of Parathas, "More
Than Paranthas" at Crowne Plaza Mall has over 200 finger licking
varieties and the menu also includes kebabs and biryanis.

Pind-Balluchi is a cool place for ok food, a
village-scene-ambience, a Dance floor in"Mudra" the "discotheque",
and party place. The Ice-Cream counter stocks some specialities
hitherto unheard of, such as a "Paan-Flavoured-Ice-Cream".

Jump to the unbeatable "Sethi's" for lip-smacking cakes and
pastries baked in-house. Chickenette Next door is faridabad's best
kept secret. A foodie's paradise, it has some of the hottest,
literally, dishes ever that goes by the name "Banzaara Tikka". Try
it and everything else will pale, nee bland, in comparison. Their
Paneer Tikka (not only for vegetarians) is legendary. Sethi's And
Chickenette are located in the "Sector-15 Market", opposite to the
Mother Dairy kiosk.

Get some whacky "paans" (assorted spices, condiments etc wrapped
in betel leaves) at "SRS Mall, Sec 12". Varieties range from
Chocolate Paan to Rose-Paan to the winter favourite Kesar-Badaam
Paan. For the unadventurous, the simple meetha-paan will
suffice.

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Buses ply from the various bus stands to other parts of North
India including Delhi, Chandigarh, Mathura, Agra
and various other cities in Haryana.

If you intend to go to Gurgaon, do not opt for public transport.There
are two options, both equally bad and time consuming.

One option is to catch a long distance Haryana state transport
bus coming from Ballabhgarh and going to Gurgaon via Faridabad. This bus takes an all Haryana
route, by-passing Delhi, and croses a hill terrain stretching for
more than 25 kms. The frequency of buses on this route is one in
every 30 minutes or so, but they are seldom on time. Also these
buses do not come to the main Faridabad bus stand but take
passengers from a nearby crossing. These buses are filled up to 5
times their capacity and the hill ride in such a crowded
environment should be best avoided. Enroute, the buses also break
down, off and on, in the middle of nowhere.

An alternative to buses on this route is to take a 'paid - lift'
with the hundreds of cabs and private cars travelling on this route
every hour. This hill route is not considered safe at night and
should be best avoided. Inspite of good police patrolling on this
route, neither of the above two options can be recommended for
tourists and infrequent travellers.

The other option is to take a public transport, come down to
Badarpur (Delhi)Border, then to take a DTC bus to Gurgaon. These
buses start from here, get equally crowded enroute and easily take
double the time for a shorter distance than the other route, but
take you through parts of south Delhi, giving you a glimpse of the
'Qutab Minar', which is a renowned historical monument.

The best option for travel to Gurgaon,thus, is to hire an
independant taxi/cab from some good tourist travel services
provider.

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